What did you see first?
Rockefeller Center
Manhattan, New York
21 June 2013
Category Archives: New York
To capture the sun
We sought to capture the sun.
It did not work.
19 June 2013
Empire State Building
Manhattan, New York
Sunset at the Shire
On 17 June,
in the year 2013,
Tricia and I
had this view
on our way
back to the Shire
from the Massawa Restaurant.
See you along the Trail.
Holy ground
I stood today on holy ground. Of course all ground is holy for God creates all ground and entrusts it to our care. Still some ground bears special meaning because of what happened there.
My quest to visit National Parks took Tricia and me to the African Burial Ground in Manhattan today. It is a well done park that tells a significant story.
New York’s African Burial Ground is the nation’s earliest known African and African American cemetery. Enslaved Africans played a key role in building Manhattan as they played key roles in building this entire country. The Nation notes that:
In 1703, 42 percent of New York’s households had slaves, much more than Philadelphia and Boston combined. Among the colonies’ cities, only Charleston, South Carolina, had more.
From the late 1600s until 1794, both free and enslaved Africans were buried in a 6.6-acre burial ground in Lower Manhattan, outside the boundaries of the settlement of New Amsterdam, later known as New York. The National Park Service notes that “an estimated 15,000 men, women and children were buried here.
Africans resisted enslavement in countless ways: from rebellions to running away to educating children and more. The care they showed their loved ones was another form of resistance. Faced with the brutal dehumanization of enslavement, honoring those who died (or were killed) served to affirm the humanity and dignity of the individual and the community.
Lost to history due to landfill and development, the grounds were rediscovered in 1991 as a consequence of the planned construction of a Federal office building. The African-American community in New York led a campaign to have the remains honored and remembered. Their efforts, after some controversy and hard work, succeeded. The remains were taken to Howard University for analysis.
After the scientists finished their work, the remains were placed in new coffins and taken back to New York for reburial. The New York Historical Society reports:
The ceremonial journey stopped in five cities along the way, so that people in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Baltimore, Wilmington, and Newark could pay their respects. Then the remains arrived by boat in New York City, at the same spot where slave ships had docked two centuries earlier. After days of rituals that included horse-drawn hearses, drummers in African kente cloth, singing, dancing, and prayers, the remains were returned to the earth in lower Manhattan.
The community’s efforts resulted in the designation of the African Burial Ground as New York City Historic District, a National Historic Landmark and, on February 27, 2006, a National Monument.
Today, the African Burial Ground National Monument includes a visitor center with four exhibit areas, a theater where a 20-minute video tells the story of the burial ground, and a bookstore. A short walk away stand the graves and a memorial.
Holy ground.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Antiracism, Human Rights, National Park, New York
Why I like New York 33: Subway conversation 2
At the 86th Street station, a woman left her seat and the car.
Woman #1 (to Woman #2): Go ahead, take the seat.
Woman #2: No thank you. I am getting off.
Woman #1: OK. I’m getting off, too. But I am going to sit.
Me: We’re all going to get off at some point. (pause) I mean that’s the idea, right? Sooner or later, we all get off.
Woman #1 and Woman #2 laughed. Then …
Woman #1 (to me): Would you like the seat, sir.
Me: No thanks. I’m fine. I’m not as old as I look.
Woman #2 and Woman #1 both laughed again.
They both got off before I did.
I still did not take the seat.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under New York
Five Lamps
On the ride back to the hotel from the Henna Night Party for Joel and Roja last year in Dublin, the cab driver pointed out the window and said, “There’s the Five Lamps.”
We looked and sure enough, there stood a lamp-post with five lanterns. One of us asked about why the lamp-post had significance.
The cab driver said, “Because it has five lamps.” A true answer, but somewhat obvious.
We asked again and he replied, “It is the only one in Dublin.” Not so obvious, but hardly a significant increase in information.
We tried once more and learned no more. I for one gave up. It was dark so I did not get a photo. I guess that is a reason to return.
Tonight, because the 1 Train was crowded, I opted to walk part way home. On Broadway, where I have been before, I noticed the Five Lamps Tavern.
I figure there is a connection. Some Internet searching has proven about as helpful as our Dublin cabbie.
However, from the Dublin City Libraries, I have learned about the lamp-post in Dublin:
The Five Lamps were put up around 1880 as a memorial to General Henry Hall from Galway who had served with the British Army in India. They were originally a water fountain with four basins at their base. Water gushed from the spouts in the shape of lions’ heads. Cups hung from chains over the basins, so that the locals could have a drink. At that time people were poor and had no running water in their homes. The fountain was probably also used as a watering trough for horses to have a drink as well.
Some mystery remains:
Some people think that the name “five lamps” comes from the five streets which meet at this point; others believe that they commemorate five major battles fought in India during the days of the British Empire.
But I know more than I did before. And someday I can learn about the Five Lamps Tavern and possible connections.
See you along the Trail.
In action
Here are a couple of photos of me preaching at the commissioning service for my friend Peng Leong. Thanks to Ryan Smith for this one:
Sera Chung took this one:
See you along the Trail.
Filed under New York, Photo, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Along the Graybeard Trail 